The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1887-03-18
FRIDAY
March 18th.
EXTRAORDINARY DEMONSTRATION BY
CONVICTS.

There is an exceedingly loose link
somewhere in the chain of prison man
agement. The outdoor gangs do pretty
much as they like, and although pro-
tests and complaints have been made by
the public and the Press nc
thought appears to have been
given to the matter by the respon-
sible authorities. The only thing in con-
nection with the prison in which the
taxpayer is permitted to participate is
finding money to run the establishment
Nevertheless it is the duty as we'll as the
right of the public to protest when glar-
ing abuses obtrude themselves. If no
good be accomplished facts are put upon
record which are certain to count when
the revolving wheel of Time brings
round the inevitable change and the day
of reckoning.
Our present purpose, however, is not
to prefer complaints but to make inquiry
We are seekers after knowledge. Who
is responsible for prison management?
By that we mean something more than
the work OF the jailer. Oahu prison is a
very costly establishment. 1t is one of
the great spending institutions of the
Kingdom, and lawfully is under the
control of the Minister of the Interior.
But is it in truth and fact under his con-
troll, and does he know anything about
the detail and result of the hired labor
of the convicts2 What does he know of
the internal and external economy of the
prison; of its discipline and sanitation,
and OF the purchase and disposition of
supplies, for all of which the Minister
is responsible under the law?
Had His Excellency Mr. Aholo any
knowledge of grievance at Oahu
prison so aggravated in it's nature, and
80 unbearable as to suggest to the chain
gang the desperate alternative of pre-
senting themselves at the Palace with a
written statement which was taken
to the King, and which His Majesty is
reported to have commanded the Mar
shall of the Kingdom to inquire into. If
the Minister of the Interior was ignorant
was derelict in his duty; if he knew and
did not exercise his authority he
is equally derelict. The spectacle of a.
chain-gang, in prison dress, demanding
an audience of the Sovereign at the
Palace, and having their petition pre-
sented and attended to, could not be
witnessed in any other country, civil
ized or savage. 1t is an out
rage upon all established forms of
propriety, and its success upon this oc-
casion cannot fail to have very demon
alizing effect upon the convict COLONY
''across the reef" They will be taught
to ignore the authority at once of the
officers in charge and the responsible
Minister, unless the participants in this
proceeding are severely punished. What
possible hope is there of enforcing dis
clpline among these lawless men, some
OF them desperate and reckless in the ex-
IRENE, if they can at any time march in
their uniform OF shame through the
streets and obtain immediate recogni-
ton by the Throne itself. There is an
end OF all responsibility and control
where conyicts are permitted such lib
erty of action, and it Is an expensive
arce to maintain penal establishment
1t all under such conditions.
For the sake of discipline, and out of |
'egard for semblance of decent appear
'nces, we protest against this gross act
II INSTRUMENTATION passing unpublished.
rhs convicts who had the temerity to
participate in this demonstration,
their grievance be real or inn
Iginary, should be taught that their
emedy does not lie in personal appeal
0 the Sovereign. Indeed, such thing
'hould be impossible. If they have
complaints to make these should he
brought before the Minister of the In
error IN regular way for investigation
Ind remedy if he should decide that
hey are worthy of attention. Unless
discipline be rigidly enforced among the
inmates of Oahu prison, whether their
erm of incarceration be of long or short
luration, trouble is certain to arise.